This is Me
by MT Pocketts
Summary: This is me, and this is where I belong. To reach her you'll have to go through me. A story about making new friends and overcoming challenges. eventually will be NejiXTenten
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto.

**A/N:** Random idea that popped into my head. I had to get it down somehow. Almost everyone will somehow be out of character, but I can't help it. I need to get this idea out! And the title will make sense later.

Also, this takes place right after the Chuunin exam, so just pretend that Sasuke never ran away.

This is Me 

by MT Pocketts

Why do I bring myself this pain?

It's like I hate myself today.

This feeling digs a hole

Deep inside my soul.

I can't make it go away

I hate myself today.

Now he's leaving me here,

I surrender to the pain

Because I hate myself today.

Why have you gone?

You know how much I love you,

And you're still walking away.

This is why

I hate myself today.

"Neji," Tenten came up to him as he meditated. The Hyuuga opened an eye in annoyance to glare at her and she seemed to falter under his gaze. He ignored it, since Tenten never seemed insecure. "It's lunch time, maybe you should take a break."

"Hn," He replied and closed his eyes once more. He didn't need to see her face to know she was glaring at him.

"You need to eat," She said, wishing Lee and Gai hadn't left so soon. Then maybe they could get him to eat something. But it was just her now, and it seemed like he never listened to her.

"Why do you care so much?" He asked her, and looked up to see the faintest blush in her cheeks.

"It's because I…I…" She trailed off and looked away. Neji slowly began to regret asking her.

"Tenten, don't-"

"I love you Neji," Tenten admitted and her blush deepened as they both stared at each other. She couldn't believe that she had actually said it and he was trying to come up with something to say.

"I…I'm sorry-" He started and in an instant her eyes flooded with tears. Tenten ran away as he finished, barely listening to his words.

xXx

The brunette sat upright in her bed and breathed a sigh of relief. Why did she keep having that dream about that stupid day? Tenten couldn't help but feel dumb for how she had acted. She had run away from him like a pathetic schoolgirl. She was too weak. The words he said had cut her deeply, even though she wasn't sure that he'd actually said them.

_'It's not that I don't like you, I'm just not looking for a girlfriend right now.'_

She rolled over and hid her face in her pillow. Of course he didn't feel the same way. This was Neji! Did he feel anything? He had looked so honest, if she didn't know better it might have seemed like it hurt him to say it too. Tenten groaned at the very idea. He would never feel bad about what he had said to her. Because he was the Hyuuga Neji, and he couldn't feel things like she could.

"How stupid could I be?" She frowned and finally managed to drag herself out of bed, get dressed and go into the kitchen to make breakfast.

She ate, still thinking over the unfortunate moment and dreading training that day, there was a knock at her door. Tenten sighed, and opened the door. She fully expected to see Lee there, jumping with excitement over some new style of training Gai would have them do, but that wasn't who it was. Neji stood there silently, looking completely out of place.

"Neji-san?" She blinked in surprise but at the same time not willing to say his name directly. He wanted to wince at her formality but got right to business instead.

"Training was cancelled, Hokage-sama said it was important that all come to a meeting," He said plainly.

"What is it about?" She asked, sounding disconnected.

"I don't know, but we should go now," Neji started to turn and saw her nod and close the door behind as she followed.

xXx

Kurenai, Asuma, and Gai's teams soon all found themselves in Tsunade's office waiting for whatever announcement she was going to make. Tenten stood silently with her team and tried to ignore the thoughts still bothering her, then Tsunade finally began when Kakashi and his team walked in.

"Now that we're all here," The Hokage said with an obvious glare in Kakashi's direction. "We may begin. First of all, my advisors and I decided to take a different approach with this group after witnessing how you fared in the Chuunin exam."

"Then why am I here?" Shikamaru asked, and everyone seemed to have forgotten his now Chuunin rank.

"Because you still have your team," Tsunade answered and then continued. "In this situation we plan on holding what is called a 'Teamwork Exam.' It will be similar to the Chuunin exam, except there is only one round that is all matches. This exam will take place in a year."

"How is this different from the one they just participated in?" Kurenai asked.

"In this case, they will train with the people they are living with," Tsunade began.

_'Oh no, I can't live with Neji now…'_ Tenten panicked. Neji looked at her out of the corner of his eye and could see her panic by the way she was biting her lip. He looked down at the ground, feeling an odd sense of guilt.

"The living arrangements will be all girls together and all boys together," Tsunade added, obviously seeing the varied reactions. Tenten sighed in relief and saw a few of the others do the same. "The idea is to develop new levels of friendship within those of your rank or age in the village and to be able to use those in battle. Your teachers will be working with different teams from now on. Both Kurenai and Asuma will work with the girls while Kakashi and Gai will be with the boys."

"How is this supposed to help them?" Kakashi spoke up. "Many of them already have bonds with their team."

"It will make more sense when you see the final matches. I will give you a better explanation when the time comes," Tsunade sat back in her chair. "For now, students please leave and go pack. When it's time to move in one of your teachers will come to get you." The Genin and Shikamaru slowly made their way out of the office and began to filter off into the general direction of their various homes.

"Hey, Tenten," A voice called and Tenten looked up to see Sakura coming up behind her.

"Oh, hi Sakura," Tenten smiled weakly.

"So I guess we're going to be living together from now on," Sakura smiled. "I think it'll be interesting. I'd honestly rather not live with my team, they fight so often."

"Yeah I think I know what you mean," Tenten grinned at the thought of Sasuke and Naruto's fights. "With my team it would just be…awkward."

"Yeah, I bet," Sakura sweat dropped, remembering that Lee was on Tenten's team.

"I don't really feel like being around them right now, so maybe it's for the best," Tenten sighed.

"Really? What happened?" Sakura looked at her with honest concern on her face. Tenten blushed slightly when she realized she'd said it out loud. It was like she was being more open than usual these days.

"I-It's nothing," Tenten looked away and said nothing more.

"Okay," Sakura replied knowingly. "When you're ready to talk, I'm here."

"Thanks, Sakura," Tenten smiled at her.

xXx

"I guess we're all living together now," Kiba said as all of the guys walked into their new home. Shino, Neji and Sasuke just found their rooms quietly while Naruto explored with Lee and Shikamaru found a place in the backyard for cloud-watching as Chouji raided the kitchen. "It's nice that they heard me…" Kiba added sarcastically.

xXx

The place where the girls were staying was huge and they each had a room complete with a space to store their weapons and scrolls, which filled a little too quickly in Tenten's case. They were given the first day to settle in and the teachers had gone off to finish whatever instructions Tsunade had for them.

"I want to watch Princess Mononoke!" Sakura complained.

"Kiki's Delivery Service is sooooo much better!" Ino glared back. Hinata was sitting on the couch watching the two arguing girls go at it, and looked relieved when Tenten walked in. She sat down next to the timid girl and they watched the two like it was some kind of movie. When weapons were drawn, Hinata gasped and Tenten decided to step in.

Their weapons and holsters were pinned against the opposite wall before you could say 'Miyazaki'.

"Ladies, let's be reasonable here," Tenten walked between them and pushed them apart. They just leaned to the side to glare around her. "We have to live together, so why don't we just get along? How about no movie today, and we do something else."

"Only if forehead girl agrees to it," Ino crossed her arms.

"If Ino-pig is fine with it then so am I," Sakura mimicked the action. Tenten sighed and released the hold she had on them, then used chakra strings to return their belongings.

"So let's just talk over dinner first, anyone want to cook?" Tenten began and Hinata brightened.

"I c-can c-cook," Hinata sounded happy to do it, so Tenten nodded and followed her to the kitchen. Ino and Sakura glared once more before following them.

(A/N: In case anyone out there is totally unfamiliar with these awesome films, they are both done by Miyazaki and if you haven't seen them you should check them out.)

It wasn't long before all four girls felt like they were having a sleepover. Even Hinata seemed to be coming out of her shell. Sakura had even admitted a few things that none of the others had expected.

"Sasuke's just so cold," Sakura shrugged. "But Naruto is so sweet and he'd do anything for me."

"He is sweet," Hinata blushed. "And s-so is Kiba…"

"Heh, Shikamaru even has his moments," Ino grinned and looked pointedly at Sakura. "I bet he and I are dating at least a month before you and Naruto are."

"You're on, Ino-pig!" Sakura made an angry fist at the blonde.

"You guys are lucky," Tenten leaned back and looked off into space. "Your teams have a good bond. Neji is so angry and arrogant while Lee is just… Lee."

"But they take care of you," Ino pointed out. "And they're both strong."

"Yeah, and I'm just in their team," Tenten smiled sadly. Before she could tell, Sakura had pulled her into a hug. She blinked in surprise and slowly hugged her back.

"You're a good kunoichi," Sakura said. "Don't compare yourself to them. And they do care, Lee took care of you after your match with Temari."

"Ugh, don't remind me. That was bad," Tenten shuddered but laughed it off.

"You'll show them up this time around," Ino said.

"Wait a minute, I think I figured it out," Sakura realized something and they all turned to her. "It's guys and girls, right? But there's only one girl in each cell, so we each know the styles of two of the boys. We have an advantage, because they won't share their styles or potentially help each other against us."

"You're right," Hinata seconded and thought it over.

"So let's figure out the holes in their styles," Tenten said and they all pulled out notepads. She sweat-dropped as she was reminded of Lee.

xXx

"What's for dinner?" Chouji asked in a half complaining tone.

"Ramen!" Naruto suggested and the guys all groaned.

"We had that for lunch, dobe," Sasuke said.

"Anyone good at cooking?" Shikamaru asked.

"I guess I can," Neji stepped up reluctantly and all the guys started to vacate the kitchen. Neji frowned and began to pull out pots and pans to start cooking. As much as he didn't want to, he remembered trying to show Tenten how to cook pasta. She'd burned nearly everything and it was amazing really. But the more he thought about that, the more he was reminded of the look on her face that day at training.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto.

**Author's Note:** We're saying only Kakashi's team did the bell test.

"Ladies," Kurenai greeted the girls as they entered the training area in their backyard. Asuma just smiled at them and said nothing. "Good morning and welcome to your first time training together. For your first task you must outsmart us."

Asuma held up a pair of bells. They shone in the morning sunlight and Sakura gasped. The other girls looked at her in surprise and she gave them a look that said 'ask later'.

"Whoever gets these bells, passes," Asuma grinned at them.

"Ha, I'll get them before you Sakura!" Ino spoke confidently and made to dash at the teachers, but Sakura caught her wrist.

"Think about that first," Sakura looked at her calmly. "There are two of them. They are both jounin. And there are four of us genin."

Ino looked disappointed and nodded her understanding. Sakura released her wrist. The teachers looked impressed but added nothing.

"What do we do?" Tenten asked Sakura.

"We have to work together," Sakura answered. "As a team. First, we should find somewhere to plan where they can't hear us."

"Got it," The other girls said and they all dashed off to find a better location.

"Haruno Sakura, huh?" Asuma commented when the girls disappeared.

"Kakashi wasn't exaggerating," Kurenai grinned.

xXx

Gai and the boys stood outside in the middle of the training area waiting for the infamously late silver-haired jounin. The boys really should have gotten the hint when Naruto and Sasuke woke up late.

"Where is he?" Kiba groaned and Naruto checked his watch.

"It's been an hour and a half. He should be here soon," Naruto said and Kiba rolled his eyes.

"If that's it, then why did you show up forty-five minutes ago?" Kiba wanted to know.

"What else is there to do?" Naruto shrugged.

Finally, Kakashi showed up and waved politely as though he was actually on time. Gai positively fumed and the boys who weren't on Kakashi's team glared.

"What?" He asked.

xXx

"We've got to work together to get those bells," Sakura explained. "Pairing up will probably be our best bet."

There was silence from the group and Sakura sweat-dropped. She wasn't used to be the one to make a strategy, usually that was Sasuke. She caught herself dimly wondering what the boys were up to.

"Well, Hinata and I have the best hand-to-hand skills," Tenten finally spoke up. "I can take Sakura while Ino goes with Hinata."

"I've got another idea," Ino said. "Asuma is my teacher, and Kurenai is hers. So we should be split up too. That puts me with Tenten and Sakura with Hinata."

"Good idea, Ino," Sakura smiled at her. "So Ino will direct the assault on Asuma and Hinata the one on Kurenai. Break?"

"Break," The other three repeated and they went off to do their respective duties.

xXx

"I remember this one," Naruto smirked and glanced over at Sasuke, who nodded in understanding.

"Let's go," Kiba said to Shino, and they walked to the side of the clearing.

"That's not going to work," Naruto shouted after them, but the two ignored them.

"You've done this before?" Shikamaru concluded and raised an eyebrow at Naruto and Sasuke, who nodded back.

"Then let's figure this out," Shikamaru grinned and the remaining boys gathered around.

xXx

"Okay, so there he is," Ino whispered and Tenten drew three kunai. "He always has to have a cigarette, he says it helps him think. He'll get distracted if we can get it away from him."

"And his pack, got it," Tenten smirked. She really loved it when her weapons expertise was what made a difference.

Asuma was startled by the sound of a kunai nearby. He spun around and saw where it had hit the tree. It was deep in the trunk, which meant it had to be the girl from Gai's team. But she had 100 accuracy, right? Then why would-

He never finished his thought. All he saw was a trail of smoke zoom past him and he looked to where it had gone. Another kunai had perfectly hit his cigarette, taken it from his lips, and buried it into the ground.

So it was that girl from Gai's team. Asuma looked around once more, idly reaching for his stash of cigarettes, only to panic as he realized it was missing. When had that happened!

"Asuma-sensei," He turned around when he heard his name, only to see the last seal of Ino's jutsu. One bell taken care of.

Kurenai turned to where Asuma had gone as she heard the faintest sound of…giggling? Had these girls really figured this out so quickly?

"Okay, so what do we do?" Sakura whispered to Hinata.

"She's good at hand-to-hand, if I go distract her, I think you can sneak in and grab a bell," Hinata answered.

"Sounds good," Sakura replied and moved away. Hinata went closer, and took a deep breath. She activated byakuugan, and charged at her teacher.

Kurenai blocked the onslaught quickly, but her chakra was slowed by Hinata's gentle fist anyway. Hinata registered Sakura coming closer behind Kurenai, and began focusing on disarming her teacher's arms. But still, when Sakura approached Kurenai caught her arm as it was on the way to the bell.

"Think I didn't know she was there?" Kurenai smiled as Hinata also went for the bell, but was blocked when Kurenai used Sakura to block it.

Several shuriken coming from the far side of the clearing forced Kurenai to put down Sakura and jump back. Ino and Tenten dashed into the clearing and helped Hinata and Sakura regain their composure quickly.

"I see you've really figured out what we were trying to teach you," Kurenai smiled. "I'm impressed, but there's still a bell left."

"Not for long," The girls shared a glance.

xXx

"I have a feeling we'll have the harder task," Kakashi commented as he read his book.

"And you're still reading, at a time like this," Gai shook his head.

"Well, if it was just me I wouldn't. But I've got back-up," Kakashi never looked up. There was rustle in the bushes and Kakashi tossed a shuriken carelessly, then a gasp was heard.

"Guess it's not that bad," Kakashi said as he turned the page and Gai glared at him.

xXx

The girls went and hid in the bushes once more, planning an attack. Kurenai waited patiently and watched the area around her carefully. Two shuriken were tossed towards her, and she simply deflected them with two kunai. Silence settled on the area once more.

"Kurenai-san," a male voice called, she relaxed but still held her guard. "Have they gotten your bell yet?"

"No, yours?" She questioned and he nodded. "They're good."

"Where are they?"

"The bushes," She answered and another kunai came shooting at them. Before they could deflect it, the weapon took off with Asuma's cigarette. Kurenai stifled a laugh as he turned red with annoyance.

"It might be best to just go through the bushes and get it over with-" Kurenai reached down for her weapon holster and froze. She then felt for the bell, which was still in place.

Another rustle of the bushes, and all four girls came running towards Kurenai.

"Want a hand?" Asuma offered.

"What else are you here for?" She muttered and went into a stance. Asuma pulled out a few weapons and tossed them at the girls, forcing them into a different formation. Hinata went straight for Kurenai with byakuugan and jyuuken at the ready as the others made to surround her. Kurenai threw some shuriken at them, and her eyes widened when they all disappeared in clouds of smoke.

Shuriken rained down on her and the four girls sat next to her and Asuma as they were pinned to the ground. Sakura grinned as she shook the bell gently in front of the teachers.

"Yup, we're good," The four gave each other high fives.

xXx

"Katon: housenka no jutsu!" A barrage of fireballs was sent at Kakashi and Gai's backs. Gai went to jump up out of the way, but was hit from the top by none other than Lee. A team of Naruto's had grabbed Kakashi and Shikamaru used his shadow technique. Kakashi looked disappointed, maybe because he'd been outsmarted so quickly or maybe because Shikamaru wasn't letting him read. Who knows.

Gai, on the other hand, wasn't going down so easily. Chouji grabbed the bell from Kakashi, and stayed on hold in case Shikamaru needed him. Naruto went to help with Gai, and made a circle around him to prevent escape. Neji took to using his jyuuken on Gai, and Sasuke snuck up behind and snagged the bell. The green-clad shinobi dropped to the ground as the boys released their various jutsus.

"Told you we got the hard group…" Kakashi went back to his book.


End file.
